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S1 E60 Looking ahead to the FA Cup
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On today's episode Joe and Craig look ahead to the 150th anniversary game in the FA Cup against West Ham.
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:05
Speaker
sports podcast network work
00:00:11
Speaker
Hello and welcome to today's episode of the Daily Villa Podcast brought to you once again by the Global Sports Podcast Network. My name is Joe Boone and I'm delighted once again to be joined by Craig to talk all things Villa. Before we get into it Craig, how are you doing? Doing well Joe, how about yourself?
00:00:30
Speaker
I'm very well,
FA Cup Excitement & Anniversary
00:00:31
Speaker
mate. Very excited to look ahead to an FA cup clash with West Ham. a special night excuse me A special night in Villa's history as we celebrate our huge 150-year anniversary. The shirt was released earlier today. Just before we get into the the bulk of the preview, what what did you make of the shirt there, Craig? I absolutely love it. It's exactly what I was hoping that the anniversary shirt would be like.
00:00:58
Speaker
The, uh, it kind of reminds me as if Apple designed a shirt. It's just classy. It's simple. Um, you know, I mean, it's, and I love the badge. I think it's got everything. It's got the the writing around the side is to symbolize our gate. Uh, the lion is our original badge. And it just seems like it was very well thought of. So very proud of the club for that, that one.
00:01:23
Speaker
Yeah, I completely agree. I think it's classy, it's simple and it it kind of reflects the the history of the club, which is really nice. I really like the kind of um the media output kind of linked to the announcement as well. It was nice to see a few were familiar faces in there. James Chester being one of the ones that you kind of didn't expect to be in there, but he was there. um So that was really nice to see.
00:01:44
Speaker
And we have quite ah a big game I'd like to say ah to to kind of look ahead to in the FA Cup.
Importance of the FA Cup
00:01:50
Speaker
It's ah an intriguing one for sure with with Villa's history and kind of cut competitions in recent years. um I suppose the first question in regards to it is how seriously kind of do you expect us to take the FA Cup this year? I think if um If based on, I believe that Unai will consider this the third most important. I think he he understands the Champions League and the Premier League are the bread and butter, if you will. It's what he's paid for in order to do as well as possible.
00:02:23
Speaker
But I'm sure he's going to feel a little bit of pressure because there's many Villa fans like both of us that it's been a long time since we saw any silverware. Obviously the last being a playoff victory in the in the championships. So winning a top class trophy like the FA Cup is a must for Villa to continue to push along. We've had a successful year last year, but there's nothing in the trophy cabinet to.
00:02:50
Speaker
Allow for that. So I've mentioned on a previous podcast that I've always dreamt about us winning the FA Cup So it's a massive one for me and I do hope we give it the respect it deserves Yeah, I completely agree. I think it's, you know, it feels about time, doesn't it, that we kind of, we had something to show for all the progression that the club's kind of gone through and in recent years. You know, we' we've kind of climbed up the the the pyramid from the championship and with the players that we've got now, I think it's about time that we kind of reap the rewards of of of that progression. I think the FA Cup would be a ah great way to ah to to achieve that.
West Ham Match Expectations
00:03:29
Speaker
We take on a a West Ham side that have had a a ah bit of a turbulent season so far, I think that's fair to say, in the Premier League, a manager change on the horizon from what reports are telling us, and some key players that haven't really performed to their kind of highest level. How did you feel when it was West Ham that were kind of drawn out the ah the bowl?
00:03:52
Speaker
It's funny because when the season started we obviously had Westamp first and they we had a crossover episode and they were full of energy. They thought it was going to be a terrific season and I didn't deny it. I really thought they were going to spearhead on. so I would be interested to listen to our GSPN West Ham podcast to see where it seemed to have gone wrong for them because it did seem like they brought in some good quality players, but they just don't seem to have jelled. So I think it's a good time to play West Ham. I think our confidence should be lifted by getting the result at Leicester coming into the FA Cup in a
00:04:34
Speaker
It's not an easy game, but it's certainly a winnable game. So I think we should be very happy. And I was i was happy when we got them out the at the draw. You avoid the bigger guns, so to speak, in the beginning. I can't see there being much rotation, but it does allow for a little bit.
00:04:54
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's it was a really interesting kind of tie. I think on the face of it, when you were in that FA Cup draw, you're kind of hoping for one of the quote unquote kind of smaller sides, maybe down the football pyramid in order to hopefully, you know, have a ah slightly easier kind of route to ah the next round. But I think the West Ham game is really intriguing. I think what you said there is exactly right. They had a stellar summer window bringing in kind of a lot of of high quality players from sort of here, there and everywhere.
00:05:22
Speaker
And we as Villa fans know that, you know, that kind of style of recruitment, that scatter gun style of trying to pick people from different leagues and different countries doesn't always work. So I was kind of apprehensive with with their summer business. But as you say, you know, when we played them on in that first game of the season, there were certainly players that you looked at and you thought, well, they're dangerous and they can hurt us. And I think that if if some of those players play in this FA Cup game, it's exactly the same despite some of their their turbulent form.
Villa's Form & Confidence
00:05:52
Speaker
We are coming into the game off the back of a win against Leicester. We did a review of that with with Dan and we spoke about it. It was a relatively professional performance. um We looked solid, a little bit uninspiring in the first half and then kind of got the job done in the second half. West Ham are coming off the back of um some really difficult fixtures. They took a 5-0 thumping at home to Liverpool and a 4-1 defeat to Man City. So that's nine goals conceded in in two games for them.
00:06:22
Speaker
Do you expect Villa to kind of follow suit and smash four or five past them or is that just kind of optimism, blind optimism? I feel like it's wishful thinking but it's wishful thinking that I'm going along with. I think we are due um a victory, a result. I mentioned prior to the Leicester game that I wanted a statement game and I'm still looking for it and I'm kind of hoping that like maybe with the not the pressures of the Premier League ahead of who not the pressures of the Champions League. Maybe it's a bit more relaxed and that might berry well into our favor. So I think we could we could easily get three or four because the West Ham back five, if you class it in, if you include Ariola on that team, their ratings were absolutely atrocious for the Man City game. Like Juan Posaca got a six out of 10 and then he was the highest defender.
00:07:21
Speaker
Kilman got a 5, Tadebo got a 5.7, Kufal got a 5.2, Ariole got a 4.8. So the ratings of that back five is back four with the keeper. It's really poor and let's continue the hammering of them. Why not?
West Ham's FA Cup Approach
00:07:41
Speaker
Yeah, I like it. I like the sound of that. And that it goes to show kind of what we were saying and the fact that three of those defenders were summer signings that were brought in for a lot of money and haven't really seemed to so gel in any way. And as you mentioned, there are nine goals conceded in their last two Premier League games and something that they're going to want to continue.
00:07:58
Speaker
In terms of how seriously West Ham will look to take the FA Cup, we as Villa fans know when you're kind of circling around those lower mid-table potentially in relegation battle kind of positions, you don't tend to take the domestic cup competitions overly seriously because I think Premier League survival kind of trumps any potential cup run. Do you think that's something we can expect to see kind of a heavily rotated West Ham side?
Villa's Lineup Challenges
00:08:24
Speaker
i don't think so i because you know what it's like and we've we've been through it even just recently when we went through that that spell of like eight games without a victory or something along those lines i feel that the distraction of like a cup competition is a great way to build momentum um you get it you get west arm let's say hypothetically push filler out the fa cup that's a huge morale boost for the team through the squad and that can really Blend into your Premier League form then as well and it can also have reverse effects If we go out there and as we say add to that those two dubbings that they just got um It gets even more on their backs with potential management change Players not knowing what's going to be happening next fans getting on their back So it really is a momentum builder or a momentum killer
00:09:17
Speaker
Yeah, completely. I do agree with that in the sense of kind of, I suppose for some of those teams in the relegation battle, building momentum is what they're going to want to do with kind of upcoming Premier League games. You know, they want to kind of escape those those. They don't want to get drawn in, I suppose. And the FA Cup, as you mentioned there, dumping out Villa would be a good way to kind of kickstart that, especially for La Pategi finds himself under the ah under the cosh at the moment, kind of in terms of his job.
00:09:43
Speaker
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00:10:33
Speaker
Welcome back and Villa reportedly find themselves without both Pal Torres and Diego Carlos going into the game on Friday. With Tyrone Mings and Esri Conza having played the Leicester game at centre back together and potentially will have the feature together um in upcoming games with the kind of extent of those injuries unknown. Do you expect any kind of rotation in the backline specifically?
00:10:58
Speaker
Before we get into that, a lot i I do want to ask how dumb do the Villa management Finca fans are with, as soon as the transfer window opened, Diego Carlos and Phila Jean get an injury. um Was it an injury that like happened when they were looking over the contract for Everton and Fenebache or whatever?
00:11:19
Speaker
So I, I feel like that is obvious that that's going to be the FFP, um, casualties, uh, car losses are going. So I don't see any unexpected rotation in the defense. I think you'll see cash. I think you'll see comms are mings and Luca Dean push. Maybe Madison might be given the nod just cause it's an FA cup game. Uh, give Luke, uh, um, a little bit of a breather.
Transfer Rumors & Squad Rotation
00:11:45
Speaker
But I really don't think so, though. I think you'll stick with that four because there isn't really that much room for rotation with those players out. And it when we have a couple of injuries, it does show us how loose our depth is within the squad to be perfectly honest. What do you think, Joe? Yeah, I do agree. I think it's really hard to rotate that back line, especially. I mean, we've spoken in our transfer kind of depth episode about how kind of slim a lot of those back line positions are and you know we mentioned kind of Bogard and Nedulakovic, it looks like Nedulakovic is going to depart on loan um somewhere, we're not entirely sure where yet, I know Valencia were kind of sniffing around him but
00:12:28
Speaker
I think it's it's really difficult, but I think on the flip side of that, the danger is you don't want any kind of injuries that affect upcoming games to Mingz or Konza, and I think the kind of amount of games that especially Esri Konza has played, you'd like to think that the kind of the the workload isn't too heavy on him. so I think it's potentially an area we could look to recruit in especially if Carlos does end up leaving the club because I think with three centre backs and one of them we don't know the extent of Paul Torres's injury. It does leave us very very slim in those kind of areas unless potentially Emery sees Bogard filling at centre half which we we're not sure exactly the kind of extent of trust that Emery wants to put into into him. So
00:13:10
Speaker
Yeah, I think it's, I don't expect kind of wholesale changes. I think exactly what you said there. I think Mattson will come in at left back. I think any minutes for Ian Mattson are positive down that left side. And I think Henry's kind of quite keen to work him out and see exactly what he kind of offers a left back and going forward as well.
00:13:29
Speaker
And West Ham are going to be without Bowen, Fabianski and obviously Antonio.
West Ham Threats
00:13:34
Speaker
Is there a ah player in that West Ham squad in particular the kind of that you fear or that you think will cause us some problems?
00:13:42
Speaker
Yeah, I think fear is the wrong type of word because I feel we have a back four that is capable of handling anything West Ham can throw at us, even with those players missing if they were in that lineup. But I do feel that we have to respect them. I think three players in particular spring to mind for me, full group, I think is a good solid center forward who hasn't really hit the ground running, but I see has a lot of potential.
00:14:10
Speaker
in those areas to cause us trouble. Pacweta and Somerville as well also have made that left side, our right, very risky, especially with a high line. So I feel that they can get in behind those spaces and and cause us some problems. So we do have to be mindful of those three players.
00:14:33
Speaker
Yeah, I think you've highlighted some ah some really strong players. They're obviously Fulcrum being their kind of marquee signing, got the goal um against Man City. So we'll want to try and kind of jumpstart his Premier League career at West Ham. I think, as you mentioned there, Paquette is a really kind of technical player who hasn't really found his feet so far this season. and I think there are wide areas with whether it's Somerville or Muhammad Kudas on the other side, I think they're players that can hurt you. They're players that have a lot of pace. um And I think, you know, in terms of our fallback positions, we're not exactly blessed with lightning quick fallbacks and with the line, the quite high line that we sometimes tend to play a lot of pace in behind. You know, we we've seen kind of when we hit on the break or when we're dispossessed high up the pitch, pace can hurt us in behind. So I think that's something that will be kind of keen to to tighten up going into the West Ham game, because I think
00:15:25
Speaker
if if the defence lapses in concentration are common in that one, I think we will get found out in behind.
Tactical Lineup Predictions
00:15:34
Speaker
With that said, we're going to go into the kind of the the format. What team are you putting out for an FA cup clash with West Ham? How are you how are you lining up, Craig? I think there's not going to be too many shocks for me. I probably would give Madison the nod over Luca Dean for this game, so it would be Martin, as in goal.
00:15:53
Speaker
cash conszap ms and Matt's almost dropped his name for a second there. I think we have to stick with Bailie. I think this is a brilliant opportunity for him to build on the confidence that he would have got after getting that goal. And also that close miss where he hit the bar against Leicester as well. um Midfield for me, Rodgers was obviously suspended for the last game. So I put him back in there, um get give him a run, keep the legs fresh. ah Watkins up front because of No Duran.
00:16:27
Speaker
Um, I think a midfield with Ramsey out on the left, I think would be our best show. And then in the middle, um, I'd probably go with Oh Nana and Tealumans for this one. Um, try and dominate that midfield with Oh Nana's presence and also kind of save, uh, Kamara for an Everton game, which I think will be better suited.
00:16:49
Speaker
Yeah, I agree with much of that. I think my back four is pretty much the same. Obviously Martin is in goal. I think I'd probably go in honor and Barkley, just because I think they're two players that haven't seen a lot of of kind of minutes and Barkley had a really ah a strong game against Leicester and Oh, no. And I think provides um a bit of physical presence. Obviously scored his first goal for the club against West Ham on that opening day of the season. so That's quite a nice kind of um element there. I think Bailey on one side is is strong. um I think the filigene situation, I can't see him if he is one of the kind of FFP casualties making much of an appearance in this, if at all. So yeah, I'd probably go Bailey, um Rogers and McGinn.
00:17:33
Speaker
with Duran up front. Yeah, I think that's my my team. I think it offers us good balance. I think it kind of keeps legs fresh and it allows for a little bit of of rotation. um The only thing is, I suppose, the only position of contention for me is Ramsey or McGinn on that left side. um Obviously we saw kind of Ramsey come on and do really well. So yeah, potentially that's the only area and in my team that I could see maybe changing.
Ollie Watkins' Role
00:18:00
Speaker
And kind of looking, I suppose, further up the pitch in terms of Ollie Watkins we spoke about against Leicester, he had his chance with Durand's suspension to kind of show fans exactly kind of what he's going to offer moving forward, obviously still our top goalscorer. Is it important for him to keep his good momentum in in this FA Cup game?
00:18:21
Speaker
yeah It's a tough one because I don't know if many people would agree with good momentum because he's still getting a lot of stick. like I agree with you but I think he's getting a lot of stick still online about some of the chances he missed in the Leicester game. One in particular where he put it over the bar, screams to mind. so I think it is a case at the moment Watkins needs more minutes to get that consistency and I think when he is, like we spoke before, when he is on, when he is consistent, when he is on form, he's a different player, he's he's an unbenchable player when he gets to that point and
00:18:58
Speaker
I've got every confidence he can get back up there. It's going to be interesting with being linked with Malon of Dortmund and with Duran coming back off suspension soon. It's going to be interesting what Emery does but at the end of the day when we want to be competing in the FA Cup, if we want to be ah doing well in Europe, if we want to qualify for Europe each year in the Premier League, then we have to have squad depth, we have to have battle for competition for places. So Watkins is going to have to step up um on a consistent basis if he wants to keep that number nine.
00:19:36
Speaker
Yeah, I agree. I think this is his time to prove exactly what he does bring to this team. I think he has had good form. I think, yes, exactly what you say there. He's received a lot of criticism. um And I don't think he's always been kind of the top level and on form as we know he can be.
00:19:53
Speaker
But I think what he does offer this team is a lot of kind of running. He can trigger the press that we we kind of spoke about before and hopefully is something we're going to see a little bit more of that kind of press that led to the second goal against Leicester. I think the f FA Cup is a really good time to to maybe try that and have Emory kind of work that out exactly where that press comes from and and see how that works against what will be a strong West Ham side. So yeah, I think he's got an opportunity to kind of build a little bit of momentum. You know, a goal would doom the world of good um and hopefully for for him build that momentum going into a congested January.
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00:20:31
Speaker
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00:20:44
Speaker
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00:21:14
Speaker
Welcome back and we're going to be looking ahead to a historical evening for Aston Villa Football Club in the 150th anniversary of
150th Anniversary Celebrations
00:21:23
Speaker
the club. Obviously we've already kind of hinted at the the shirt that was released earlier today, the black kit, but has kind of received mixed reception online.
00:21:33
Speaker
we spoke about the fact that we both like it we think it looks kind of ah elegant and classy but in terms of what the the night's going to look like in the in the build up to the actual game against West Ham is there kind of anything in particular whether it's in the stadium outside the stadium that you think would really kind of um emphasize what will be a really historical evening.
00:21:53
Speaker
If it's anything like our first Champions League game, it's going to be epic. i For background staff that work behind the scenes at the Villa, did such a magnificent job of making it such a spectacle. So if you're going to do that for a game, for our first in the Champions League, if it's going to be talking about the history, the anniversary of our club, I think they'll go all out. And I think it is really going to be something special to be part of.
00:22:23
Speaker
and even though I only you get to see it on the TV I'm very much looking forward to it. Yeah I think we've seen the kind of the way that the the Villa staff can put on these monumentous occasions for Champions League nights whether it's with big Tifos that kind of hint at some of our history in previous games or the actual atmosphere around kind of Villa Park on a Champions League night and I'd like to see something kind of reminiscent of that for for a kind of once in in a lifetime kind of celebration of Aston Villa 150 years obviously we've seen around Villa Park sometimes they they do the the interviews with past players and things like that 150 years is a very long time there's a lot to celebrate throughout that whether it's the vast amount of trophies we've won or some of the quality that we've seen kind of
00:23:10
Speaker
in and out of Villa Park. Obviously we saw some of the ex-players represented in the the kit launch with them some of the players that featured alongside the current players, men's and women's teams, which was really nice.
00:23:22
Speaker
In terms of the atmosphere, obviously as you mentioned there, the Champions League atmosphere at Villa Park is second to none in my opinion. I think the way that we kind of support the team in those Champions League evenings has had a big effect on the playing squad. Do you think the atmosphere, if it's a similar sense of that huge kind of grand atmosphere, do you think that can potentially spur the team on to winning the FA Cup game?
Villa Park Atmosphere
00:23:46
Speaker
Absolutely. I think the Villa Park fans, when they are full voice, are one of the best atmospheres in the whole Premier League, let alone the old football pyramid, to be perfectly honest. Villa fans, when they're using their most positivity, um, of the best in the world. They really are. I've been part of many, many, many stadiums and I've just, I know I'm obviously biased and I used to sit in the hole and as the seasons get older, but when Villa parks rocking, there's nothing like it. And it does seem to help our players. And that's kind of showing by our successful home record, um, and, uh, very poor away record.
00:24:28
Speaker
Yeah I think the the anniversary is a real opportunity to to celebrate the football club and I think you know I kind of looking at it from a media perspective and a content perspective which I know is quite a kind of a niche thing to look for you know I want to hear kind of accounts from fans of all ages as to how they fell in love with the club I want to hear from ex-players and I think it would be It's a real opportunity for fans to come together at these kind of historical celebrations and talk about our different experiences
Score Predictions & Future Opponents
00:24:56
Speaker
with the football club. So I'm really hoping that that's something that they kind of capitalise on and go for. And I think to wrap the episode up, probably the toughest question I'm going to ask you, Craig, is I'm going to ask you for your score prediction. And if you've got any Villa goal scorers, which I'm sure we're all hoping that you do, who are they?
00:25:15
Speaker
I'm going to go big. I'm going to go bold. I'm going to say 3-0 and a Watkins hat trick. Very nice. Very nice. That's that's optimism, but I'm all for it. Absolutely all for it. I'm going to go slightly less um optimistic. I am going to go for a win. I'm going to go for a narrow 2-1 professional job, similar to the Leicester game. I think it's going to be a ah hopefully a game that we're spurred on by the atmosphere. And I'm going to say that Bailey,
00:25:44
Speaker
picks a goal up, continuing his good form from the Leicester game. And I'd like to say Oh Nana from a set piece. I'd like to see him dominate the West Ham backline as we saw at the start of the season. And yeah, hopefully we'll be through to the next round. Is there anybody in particular, this is a spontaneous question, but is there anyone in that you'd like in the next round if we do get past West Ham, hopefully? Or can't believe it's still in it, but I believe it's still in it. I think I can double check.
00:26:12
Speaker
If Blues are in it, I would love to play Birmingham City any time of the week, every given Sunday. um So like Blues, West Brom, Wolves always create great atmospheres. um And then any surprise league two teams that are still in it, to be perfectly honest.
00:26:30
Speaker
Yeah I'm just looking now blues have got Lincoln in the third round so I would therefore yeah I absolutely love a second city Derby we know how big those occasions can be and we spoke about atmosphere earlier yeah doesn't get much bigger atmosphere than a second city Derby.
00:26:48
Speaker
So that wraps up today's episode. Thank you very much Craig for joining me. Really enjoyed talking through the FA Cup preview. Be sure to get in touch across all the socials that you can find in the podcast description. We want to hear all about your thoughts going into a big clash with West Ham. This has been a global sports podcast production. Thank you for listening and as always up the villa.